We often take reading comprehension for granted. But can you imagine how boring it must be to be able to read fluently – that is, to know how to sound out words and say them to sound like you know what you’re reading – but not to have any real understanding of what it is that you are reading? Without actual comprehension, reading is just a frustrating, pointless exercise in word finding and endless, meaningless repetition.
Extensive studies have shown that the major way “good” readers differ from “poor” readers is in how they think about text before, after and as they read it. Good readers are often strategic readers. Comprehension strategies are procedures that are under the control of a reader, who makes decisions about which strategies to use and when to use them, even if they’re doing this at an automatic level.
“Poor” readers, on the other hand, don’t read strategically. They don’t think about how to approach a text. They don’t really think about a text much while reading it – instead focusing on just making it through to the end – and they show little inclination for or ability to think about a text once they’ve finished it.
The difference between good and poor readers then is not so much one of ability as one of approach. Fortunately, this can be learned.
CARS & STARS Online is a digital reading comprehension program based on twelve core reading strategies that is designed to turn every student into a comfortable and proficient reader who can approach every type of text with an advanced level of reading comprehension. A reader who has progressed through CARS & STARS Online won’t just be able to read a text, they’ll be able to determine why they think it was written and what the person who wrote it was trying to get them to think when they read it. What’s more, they’ll be able to do this and many more textual analysis skills as second nature rather than as additional work, because they’ve been made familiar with them across the breadth of the entire program.
CARS & STARS Online aims to take students and make them informed, evaluative interpreters of text. Great reading comprehension is a more vital skill than ever, and a student schooled by CARS & STARS Online will be able to perform high-level textual analysis as second nature, on every text.
If you are interested in learning more about the CARS & STARS Online subscriptions and how they can help children to achieve better results, then sign up for a free trial to be an integral part of your child’s reading success.
